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CLEP Western Civilization II study materials
CLEP Western Civilization II study resources

CLEP Western Civilization II: The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era, c. 1789–1815

CLEP Western Civilization II · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era, c. 1789–1815

This domain covers the collapse of the French absolute monarchy in 1789, the radical republic and Terror, and Napoleon's consolidation and conquests to 1815.

From fiscal crisis to republic

  • Fiscal breakdown forced Louis XVI to summon the Estates-General in May 1789. The Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly in June and took the Tennis Court Oath. The Bastille fell on 14 July.
  • The August Decrees and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (August 1789) abolished feudal privilege and asserted legal equality, sovereignty in the nation, and property rights.
  • The 1791 constitution created a constitutional monarchy, but war in 1792 radicalized politics. The republic was proclaimed in September 1792; Louis XVI was executed in January 1793.
  • The Terror (1793–1794), directed by the Committee of Public Safety, used revolutionary tribunals, price controls, and mass mobilization. Robespierre fell in July 1794; the Directory followed from 1795 to 1799.

Napoleon's consolidation

  • Napoleon seized power in the Brumaire coup (November 1799). The Concordat (1801) reconciled the state with the Catholic Church; the Code Napoléon (1804) secured legal equality, property, and secular marriage. Prefects, the Bank of France, and centralized administration rationalized the state.
  • He crowned himself emperor in December 1804. The Continental System (1806) sought to blockade Britain. Overextension brought disaster in Russia (1812), defeat at Leipzig (1813), abdication in 1814, and final defeat at Waterloo (1815).

Worked example

Question: Did Napoleon preserve or betray the Revolution? Reasoning: he preserved legal equality, a secular state, property rights, careers open to talent, and administrative reform. He betrayed political liberty through censorship, police surveillance, a hereditary empire, and continuous war. 'Consolidation' is therefore more accurate than either simple label; his empire spread some revolutionary laws while provoking nationalism against French rule.

Traps that cost marks

  • The Terror was not simply mob violence; it was organized by revolutionary government under emergency conditions.
  • Napoleon did not restore feudalism or the old corporate order.
  • The Congress of Vienna (1815) was not purely vindictive; it sought a durable balance around France.